


take the long way

by jinxfabray



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, dumb boys in dumb love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 10:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14542722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinxfabray/pseuds/jinxfabray
Summary: baekhyun matches with a cute boy on his carpooling app, and suddenly the highway becomes his favorite place in the world.





	take the long way

**Author's Note:**

> so apparently i accidentally wrote a fic set in argentina once again? it seems other countries don't have gas stations with cafes in them, so if this is the case for you i beg that you keep an open mind and bear with me <3 ANYWAY this is a little drabble of a story that i hope you will enjoy!!

When the notification had shown up on his screen, Baekhyun had been slightly shocked because never in the entire time he’d been using Tinder had he seen such a gorgeous guy. He was sure he would remember swiping right on that face -- and he did remember, after a moment. Except it hadn’t been on Tinder, but on his carpooling app, and he hadn’t swiped right on his face but on his schedule. Suddenly, his heartbeat was slowing down back to a mediocre pace because although it was nice to have finally found someone who had a car and took the same route he did every morning, he was gonna have to sit next to handsome guy on a daily basis and keep his hands to himself, so that was extremely disappointing.

That had been the plan, at first. Stay polite, not stare, definitely not get a crush if he could avoid it. What he couldn’t have possibly counted on though, was on Kim Jongdae being the human embodiment of sunshine, with a personality so warm the first time Baekhyun had sat next to him, he’d known he was doomed.

It’s been a whole two months now, and Baekhyun’s view on the situation has certainly changed. A crush had been unavoidable, and by now, he’s mostly concerned about it growing into something more because Jongdae keeps bringing him caramel macchiatos when he picks him up at the ungodly hour in which they both have to hit the highway in order to get to work in time, and he keeps laughing at his jokes like Baekhyun’s hilarious, which usually he is, but not when he’s this overwhelmed by the proximity of a gorgeous boy. It’s upsetting, and Baekhyun wishes he would either stop doing that, or stop the car and kiss his face off.

“Baek? You’re awfully quiet this morning,” Jongdae hums, eyes focused on the road like the responsible driver he is. “You even forgot to put music on, after nagging me so much for aux privileges I kind of expected you to use them more.”

Nodding absentmindedly, Baekhyun reaches for the aux cord, pressing play on a random playlist as he chews on his lip. His best and most annoying friend Sehun is insistent about him telling Jongdae how he feels, but Baekhyun isn’t sure he wants to risk what they have, even if that’s really just two long drives from work. Three hours per day of hanging out with Jongdae already feels too good to be true, he doesn’t think it can get better like this, not really.

“I had a crappy weekend,” he says at last, putting on a half smile so Jongdae will stop shooting him concerned glances. He doesn’t add it was crappy because he kept trying to come up with excuses to text him and ask him for a ride somewhere, only to realize if he couldn’t build the courage to do that, then he’s probably never gonna be bold enough to actually ask him out. 

“Sorry,” Jongdae makes a face, looking like he wants to reach out and pat him but can’t let go of the steering wheel. 

“Long day of work ahead? Mondays are always the worst in your office, aren’t they?” Baekhyun asks, eager to change the subject as he keeps skipping songs out of nervousness.

“Yeah,” Jongdae groans, and his exasperated look is so cute Baekhyun wants to pinch his cheek or something, but he doesn’t. “Back-to-back meetings all day, it’s like they want me to waste all of my energy on the first day so I just wander around like a zombie the rest of the week. Joke’s on them, someday I’m gonna go rogue and eat their brains -- might starve though.”

Baekhyun laughs and Jongdae does that thing again where he glances at him like he would rather die than take his eyes off the road but watching Baekhyun snort ungracefully is worth the risk. It might not be a real thing, and considering how deep Baekhyun is into this unrequited crush, he might just be projecting because watching Jongdae laugh is like catching a sunrise after a long night right before slipping into bed. Still, it’s nice to pretend it’s a thing that happens, and not just a figment of his imagination.

“Bet it's not what you imagined your life would be like when you went into architecture,” he says, finally settling on the new Ariana Grande song and turning the volume down. “I mean it just, it sounds like there's more buildings and drawings involved, not just constant crowded meetings.”

Jongdae sort of sighs and chuckles at once, frustration evident in the gesture. 

“I don't know, honestly? I didn't expect anything from architecture other than it just being enough to get my mom off my back -- she's very sweet most of the time, but she was always worried I'd end up trying to live off of drawing and she uh, she had high hopes for my income,” he says, glancing at Baekhyun. “My dad got her used to some things living off of a pension just couldn't give her, and I guess she counted on me to help her out with that.”

“Ouch,” Baekhyun winces, because that sounds like a lot of pressure, but Jongdae doesn't seem too stressed about that in particular. They've talked about Jongdae's dad before -- they've talked about so much already, because after the first few trips which they spent in awkward silence with the radio filling the distance between them, one morning Baekhyun got in the car ready to start some kind of conversation, anything at all. Jongdae had apparently come up with the same plan and they'd started talking at the same time, surprising each other and then bursting into laughter, effectively breaking the ice for good. After that, everything felt easy, and Baekhyun had found it natural to move from whining about circuits and his brother to discussing his deepest insecurities. It had been a two-way street, and although it had mostly been nice, Jongdae opening up his heart to him had only made Baekhyun like him even more, which didn’t feel like a good thing since it was so hopeless. Baekhyun would never judge a book by its cover, but in this case the contents had seemed to somehow be even better. 

“So do you not draw like, anything other than buildings?” he asks after a moment. Sometimes Jongdae seems afraid he's talked too much about himself, like he's not entirely used to people wanting to hear that much, which makes zero sense because Baekhyun can't imagine anyone not wanting to listen to anything he has to say when he's so funny and interesting. 

It's a good thing Baekhyun has no problem with making it obvious that he'd like to hear more, and he's mostly doing it for himself but Jongdae gives him such warm smiles when that happens that he melts inside a little. 

“Oh no, I draw -- my mom got married when I was on like, my third year of college? Got hitched to some rich dude, so she didn't care much about what I did and I started doing a comic strip for the school newspaper and then I just kept going,” he says easily. “I have a website, you can check it out but you have to promise you won't say if you think it's lame.”

Baekhyun gasps, clutching his chest, feeling mortally wounded by his lack of trust in him. 

“How dare you, I would never think it's lame,” he starts, “or at least, I definitely wouldn't tell you something like that.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes fondly, tapping his fingers on the wheel to the beat of the song. 

“Why keep this job though, if your mom isn't nagging you about it anymore?” Baekhyun asks, his fingers going to fiddle with the strings of his hoodie. He can't imagine having to dress formally every day like Jongdae does, always looking ready to be wed in his plain, crisp white shirts and suit pants -- again, Baekhyun might be projecting some repressed wishes but they're certainly better off staying in the very back of his mind. 

“I like architecture, I think,” Jongdae replies thoughtfully. “I don't know, I like that drawing is something I do for myself and I don't have to worry about it not being good enough to pay my bills, and this job might be stressful but I rarely ever have to take work back home so I have time to draw.”

“You're so good at adulting,” Baekhyun nods, properly impressed. They're entering the city already and the lab isn't too far. He used to get so relieved at the sight of the entrance signs, but now they just mean his time with Jongdae is coming to an end. 

“On the way back you can tell me how you ended up doing -- well, you can actually explain what it is exactly that you do,” Jongdae laughs as he turns to the road that leads to the lab. “Seven o'clock?”

“As always,” Baekhyun grins. 

He waves at the car as Jongdae drives away, off to go work at his serious job where no one wears socks and sandals like the guy who just walked into the place Baekhyun proudly calls his second home. Maybe they should feel like a bit of an odd pairing, but Baekhyun can’t help feeling they match, somehow. 

From somewhere behind the open door of his workplace, Sehun’s voice comes to remind him to stop drooling over his boyfriend and get inside. It’s been a long time since Baekhyun has stopped correcting him, and if he wasn’t a complete non-believer, he’d think it’s because maybe a part of him is hoping that the law of attraction is a real thing and him letting people call Jongdae his boyfriend will, in the end, make him be his boyfriend.

  
  
  


He’s halfway through fixing a broken chip when he realizes the time has come to make a decision. It’s been two hours since he last saw Jongdae and all he’s been thinking about is how many hours are left until lunch, because he’s been texting him links to funny videos but Jongdae never checks his phone during work hours so he won’t respond until noon. He misses him -- he misses him /horribly/ which is ridiculous and clingy and Sehun might kick him if he makes any other distressed sounds. His big problem is still present, however, because he really truly cannot imagine losing Jongdae because he’s made things awkward by confessing, so he’s gonna have to be subtle about it. Subtle enough that Jongdae will pick up on his cues, if he’s interested, or that they’ll fly right over his head if he doesn’t see Baekhyun like that at all.

“Just don’t go stand with a boombox outside his house and you’ll be fine,” Sehun says, like Baekhyun would have even considered being so borderline creepy.

“I’m trying to see if he’s interested, not /convince/ him to be interested,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, giving up on the chip and resting his chin on his hands instead, to add some emphasis to his whining. “Huh. It might not be such a bad idea, though.”

“I just specifically told you not to go with a boombox, and you don’t even know where he lives,” Sehun sounds only slightly shocked, which Baekhyun considers to be quite rude, because how dare Sehun think him capable of things like that.

“I mean, I don’t have to use my words -- I can use songs but like, lowkey? Because I’m the aux master,” he says, widening his eyes like that’s gonna help Sehun understand what he’s saying. Jongdae had called him the aux master after their second ride together, when he’d reluctantly allowed Baekhyun to be in charge of music since his playlists wouldn’t load. Baekhyun had been very careful with his music selection, and Jongdae had been impressed enough he’d let him choose ever since. In hindsight, Baekhyun wasn’t too sure why he’d been so easily convinced when Baekhyun had been nervous enough to let the same song play on repeat three times before he’d realized.

“Oh my god, you’re gonna make him a mixtape,” Sehun smiles, at last, and Baekhyun nods triumphantly.

“I’m not gonna make him a mixtape, I’m gonna make him the mixtape, the ultimate, one that will capture everything I wanna say to him with better words than I could ever find -- and if he doesn’t like me back, he’ll literally never realize. I’m a genius,” he grins, and Sehun shrugs, earning himself a kick on the knee.

Because he’s a good employee, Baekhyun doesn’t set out to make the mixtape right away, waiting until lunch instead. It’s hard, because he doesn’t want to be tacky or too obvious. There’s a Jason Mraz one that’s actually quite perfect, and then there’s that Carly Rae Jepsen that Jongdae always hums under his breath, and he throws in a little Death Cab because classics never go wrong. In the end, he has a good fifteen songs lined up by the time he needs to get back to work, and it’s a solid first step of his masterplan to figure out if Jongdae has any feelings towards him or not.

  
  
  


Jongdae is at least 95% asleep by the time he shows up at the tech lab, and Baekhyun wishes he'd learned how to drive at some point in his life so they could switch seats just this one time. He gives him a tired grin, stifling a yawn behind his fist as he takes them back to the highway, tapping his fingers against the wheel to what Baekhyun presumes he thinks is the beat of the music coming from the stereo, but it's actually quite far off. 

He doesn't really notice the songs, though he makes some comment about how relaxing Baekhyun’s choices are today. It's dark all around them and Baekhyun contents himself with looking at how the road lights illuminate Jongdae in changing ways, his eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks when the light catches him at the perfect angle. It's pitch black out the window, though they'll soon be entering their town and the magic of the evening will wear off. 

“I gotta stop at the gas station,” Jongdae says over the mellow music. “Could use a cup of coffee, if you don't mind?”

He does this a lot, when Baekhyun thinks he's tired enough he'll want to just head straight to bed; he stops to buy them coffee instead. He wishes he could see it as Jongdae making up excuses to hang out with him a bit longer, but he's pretty sure Jongdae works another couple of hours when he gets home -- drawing, maybe, Baekhyun realizes now. It worries him, but he's not gonna pass up the chance to be around Jongdae for an extra couple of minutes. 

“Sure, but no double espresso shots or anything dumb like that, sleep is important,” he says sternly, making Jongdae chuckle. 

“Yes, mom,” he nods, eyes searching for the gas station sign he knows should be around here.

It's not bad coffee, considering the place, and the girl at the register always gives them an extra cookie or whatever else she has on the counter. Baekhyun thinks she might have a thing for Jongdae, which he finds very understandable. 

He sends Jongdae to get them a table as if they’re at some crowded restaurant when there's barely two or three other people here, and it has nothing to do with wanting to put some distance between the girl and him. He just wants Jongdae to rest, really. 

The girl grins and takes his order like she doesn't know it by heart, shooting a glance at Jongdae that Baekhyun knows she’d meant to be subtle.

“Won't your boyfriend want anything else?” she asks, eyes set on the items she's scanning, her cheeks turning wildly red. 

“We're just friends, but no, that'll be all,” Baekhyun says, feeling merciful for a moment, and pretty proud of himself for not having stuttered through denying it. Really, he doesn't know if Jongdae likes him or if he even likes boys, so it'd be cruel of him to rob him of a chance like this. The girl looks up, still blushing but with a hint of determination in her eyes that's so evident Baekhyun realizes, a bit too late, that he's got it all wrong. 

“Thanks for your purchase,” she says, a smile so bright it's almost blinding. Baekhyun grins back, apologetic. He didn't see her write her number on the ticket, yet it is very much there, which only makes him feel worse. 

“Aw, did she have it prepared? That's cute,” Jongdae cooes when he tells him the story, looking at him with his crinkly eyed smile, clearly undisturbed by Baekhyun being hit on. Perfect. 

“For all we know, she could have given it to me so I'd deliver it to you,” he says, doing his best to hide his annoyance. “Now eat your cookie and tell me how I can find this website of yours.”

“Oh, you don't have to do that,” Jongdae chuckles, pouring sugar into his coffee until the proportions are so off Baekhyun wonders if it'll even dissolve. 

“You can't just tell me about a thing like that and then not let me see it, I'd show you if I had any sort of, uh. Talent,” Baekhyun says, stirring his latte. 

“You have plenty of talents, dumbass,” Jongdae rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee and wincing a little, like maybe he hadn't mean to put that much sugar in it, or so Baekhyun hopes. Unsurprisingly, Jongdae adds another spoonful. “But I'll text you the link, if you promise you'll show me around your workplace sometime.”

“There's nothing interesting about the lab,” Baekhyun says, shrugging, “but sure, I'll take you.”

“As an architect, I find all ancient buildings interesting,” Jongdae starts, still stirring his coffee, which must have gone cold by now. “And as a nerd, I find everything about your job fascinating.”

Baekhyun coughs, because Jongdae had said that so earnestly like he’d really meant it, which is ridiculous and it makes his heart feel all warm. He chooses to focus on swallowing down the remains of his own coffee, buying himself some time to come up with something to say to that that isn't _your face is fascinating_.

“We should get going, I still have to go get groceries,” Jongdae says, thus stealing the chance for Baekhyun to reply with whatever witty comeback he surely would have come up with if he'd had a couple more hours to think about it. 

As they exit the place and Jongdae disposes of their cups, dropping them in a bin, a fact crosses Baekhyun’s mind, and it's that he doesn't remember ever having seen Jongdae actually drink his coffee at all. Clearly that's ridiculous and he must have just been distracted by his face, but his brain chooses to set the thought aside, just in case. 

  
  


Jongdae’s comics are _amazing_ , and it's not just because Baekhyun thinks the way Jongdae inhales oxygen is amazing, they are truly, objectively funny, and they're quite popular too. Against all his natural instincts to be fast asleep before eleven pm, Baekhyun actually stays up pretty late going through his website, sending links to Sehun who will definitely make fun of him for this in the morning, but he doesn't care. He might tomorrow, but right now, he's busy feeling overwhelmed as he adds yet another layer to his very complex and stupidly deep feelings. Yes, he's got a hell of a crush, but it's a crush like he's never had before, where he's not just infatuated and constantly thinking about Jongdae's mouth on his, which is saying a lot because Jongdae's lips would be award-winning if there were awards for the greatest mouths in the world. He thinks Jongdae is so smart, and witty in a way that makes Baekhyun want to work on his own puns just so he can get on his level and learn how to properly deadpan like Jongdae does so perfectly. He's given some consideration to those arms Jongdae hides under his shirts and how they look so toned he wouldn't be surprised if he could lift him up without breaking a sweat, but he's also thought a lot about how Jongdae cheers him up so easily, can always see through his moods and lift him up in a different way. 

It's the worst kind of crush, Baekhyun realizes as he reaches the end of Jongdae’s website, because it's too close to something else and he's not even scared about it. If he's gonna fall for someone, he'd rather it was for Jongdae, even if he's out of his league and will never like him back. 

He manages to crash for a whole hour before his alarm is going off, and he jumps into the shower, figuring he can get breakfast at work. Funds have been hard to get lately, but they got a commission and if they can figure out a way to get the detector to work as it was requested, Baekhyun might get to eat real breakfasts at work too rather than making do with tea and, if he's lucky, cup noodles. The tech lab is a fun place to work at, and when Baekhyun got his degree in engineering he certainly didn't think he'd get to work with telescopes and antennas out of all things, but it's been a learning experience, even if what he's mostly learned is research may feed the brain, but it doesn't do much for his stomach. 

His phone lights up with a text from Jongdae letting him know he's outside, and Baekhyun finishes getting dressed in a hurry, hoping he's got the right amount of socks on. 

Just in case, Baekhyun plays his mixtape again, bobbing his head to the music as he watches the road ahead. Jongdae is the one who's curiously quiet this morning, and it makes him antsy. 

“Listen, if you hated it and would rather not say anything about it I'll understand, but I'd prefer it if you'd lie to me and say you loved it, okay, I'm fragile,” Jongdae blurts out suddenly, his eyebrows raising in despair as he shoots Baekhyun a pleading look. 

It takes him a moment, because he did just sleep a whole sixty minutes and hasn't had any caffeine yet, but then it dawns on him. 

“Oh, shut up, you made it sound like you were gonna show me your exclusive content but you have a whole fan base, you don't need my approval,” he rolls his eyes, but it's fond, because how could he be anything else towards Jongdae. “But if you really must know, I stayed up until half past three just to read the whole thing so yeah, I didn't hate it while I was reading it but I developed some negative feelings towards it when my alarm went off.”

Jongdae is grinning so brightly and yet Baekhyun can't look away, even at risk of being blinded by it. Jongdae's light never feels dangerously hot though, it's more like the cozy warm of the morning sun in winter, and Baekhyun feels like some silly mosquito, flying straight into the lamp every single time because he cherishes the warmth so much.

“Thanks,” Jongdae says after he's done blushing and just being overall cute. “I was worried, it's just -- I mean, obviously the opinion of strangers on the internet doesn't count as much as yours.”

“Right, because I'm totally not a stranger you met on the internet,” Baekhyun deadpans, purely because he finds it funny how Jongdae made it sound like they are childhood friends or something. 

“You're the furthest thing from a stranger,” Jongdae says, and he's still smiling but there's a certain heaviness to it that Baekhyun doesn't wanna look into. “Anyway, I hope you won't forget your side of the deal, I wanna see the antennae.”

“Don't worry, I'll show you everything, just… give us a couple of days so we can finish up some stuff that's got everyone a little on edge, and I'll give you the grand tour,” Baekhyun nods, suddenly invaded by a weird nervousness at the idea of Jongdae meeting his work friends, probably because they've been listening to him whine about his unrequited love since the first time they saw each other. 

“Sure, I don't wanna be a bother, I just wanna get a little peek into what you do for a living,” Jongdae shrugs casually. “I have to say though, you don't seem particularly on edge.”

Baekhyun is very much on edge, actually, because he's terrible with deadlines and he's glad he's got Jongdae picking him up to keep him from setting up a tent at work and just living there until the device is finished. The thing is though, being around Jongdae is by far the most soothing thing in his life, and he makes it so easy to relax for a couple of hours every day Baekhyun should be paying him what he's saving from quitting yoga. 

“I'm too irresponsible to get stressed about work, come on,” he grins, and because he's looking at him like always, he catches Jongdae giving him such a warm smile he briefly considers jumping out of the car. 

“I don't believe that for a second,” Jongdae shakes his head, the ends of his mouth curling up in that terrible smile of his. “I'm glad you're handling it so well, I lose my cool so quickly when I have stuff to do that starts to pile up,” he adds with a sigh, like that's somehow a personal fault of his and not the most common thing for people to do in the face of stress. 

“It's okay, not everyone can be as stoic as I am,” Baekhyun says, putting on his most serious expression and making Jongdae burst into laughter. In the back of his mind and even if it's only just five am, he marks this day as a victory. 

  
  
  


The morning goes by so slowly Baekhyun is starting to worry one of the nerds from the physics department he's always teasing might have finally figured out how to manipulate time and they're paying him back for constantly telling them string theory doesn't count as a field of study because it's as real as ghosts. He's been tampering with some circuits for the new detector, his brain physically here but his mind definitely elsewhere, when he hears Sehun sigh for the fifteenth time in the past half hour. 

“Everything okay?” he asks him, concerned, and Sehun stares back at him for a moment, like he's trying to see through him. “You were sighing so much, I got worried.”

“It was you, you idiot, you were the one sighing,” Sehun says, raising both his eyebrows at him.

Ah. Baekhyun blinks a couple of times, like that's gonna help, as his tired brain processes the information. This is all Jongdae's fault, he should call the company that developed that carpooling app and demand a refund. 

“I was so ready to come and mock you for all the crying you did last night in my messages but you look too sad for me to enjoy that,” Sehun says, a hint of real concern in his voice. “I'd tell you to take the day off and go nap but we need you here so like… I don't know, take an early lunch and do something about, uh, all of you.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Baekhyun says, staring at the hand Sehun just waved to signal his entire human shape. 

“I mean get caffeine, but also think about this Jongdae situation and maybe switching to a more serious approach? This isn't how you wanna be losing sleep over a pretty boy.”

It really sucks sometimes when Sehun gets all wise like that, so Baekhyun huffs, staring at the time on his phone and deciding to give himself fifteen minutes to sulk before he actually takes Sehun’s advice. As much as he hates to admit it, it really is solid advice. He can't imagine getting in the car again later today and pretending one more time that he doesn't wanna kiss Jongdae’s face off every time he sees him. 

He's heading out for lunch when it hits him that he could outsmart Sehun and make his idea even better by combining both things -- taking an early lunch, and talking to Jongdae in that time. He knows he has a lunch break because it's the only time of the day he replies to Baekhyun’s texts, and he won't be able to say no to Baekhyun taking him out to grab a bite if he surprises him at his workplace. It's yet another perfect plan, except this one is actually gonna work out, Baekhyun is sure. At the very least, he'll get to tell him his feelings early enough in the day so if Jongdae turns him down, he'll have a couple of hours to find a different way to get home. 

It's a quick metro ride to Jongdae's firm, especially because it's still early and it's far from packed, and before he knows it Baekhyun is standing outside a big building, wondering how he'll even find Jongdae in such a place. He spots a secretary inside, so he builds up courage and marches in, asking his way around until he finds the right floor. There's a sign in the door with a couple of names on it, Jongdae's included, and Baekhyun has to take a deep breath before knocking on the door. 

“Yes? How may I help you?” asks someone who is very much not Jongdae, looking up from some blueprints. Baekhyun shifts on his feet, looking around like there's a chance Jongdae might be hiding somewhere. 

“I'm looking for uh, Kim Jongdae? I'm a friend of his,” he says, the word _friend_  sounding foreign in his mouth. 

The girl frowns, but then she's cracking a smile and Baekhyun is profoundly uneasy for many reasons, one of them being how infinitely gorgeous she is, and how every one of her expressions makes her somehow prettier. 

“Would you by any chance be Baekhyun?” she asks, and all Baekhyun manages to do is nod. “It's very nice to meet you, Jongdae talks so much about you -- I've heard you have a great taste in music,” she grins, Baekhyun too confused to smile back. “I'm Soojung, by the way.”

A big part of him wants to tell her Jongdae's never mentioned her in his life, but truth is he does remember her name. Jung Soojung, architectural prodigy, Baekhyun thinks as he finally makes himself smile, hoping it will make her stop being so mysterious and just say if Jongdae is in the bathroom or taking care of his secret wife and kids he’s never mentioned to Baekhyun. At this point, all he can ask for is that his secret wife is Soojung, because if he's gonna lose it better be to her. 

“Well, uh, see the thing is, Jongdae has the day off today,” Soojung says, an amused smile on her lips. “He's been getting Tuesdays off for a couple of weeks now because the boss needed him to take a couple of Skype meetings and it was just easier for him to do it from home.”

“That's impossible,” Baekhyun says, his mouth feeling numb for some reason. Soojung looks like she’s just heard the best joke of all time, but Baekhyun doesn't get what the punchline is. “He's been coming to the city every Tuesday, I -- I've seen him.”

“I don't know what to tell you, he hasn't been coming in to work on Tuesdays for a while now, and he definitely didn't come today,” Soojung says, her gaze so intense Baekhyun feels she's reading his mind. “Maybe you should ask him about it.”

“I will,” Baekhyun says weakly, starting to walk backwards towards the door. Jongdae is the kindest human being he's ever met but surely he's not selfless enough to have been driving Baekhyun all the way to work and then back home at night. Surely there must be some other explanation. 

He buys food on the way, and barges into the office with an expression that makes Sehun drop everything he's doing and come sit with him right away. Granted, Baekhyun bringing him lunch may have influenced that decision as well. Halfway through Baekhyun’s explanation of what happened though, Sehun starts to laugh. 

“I can't believe you, a complete idiot, managed to find the one person in the universe who might actually be a match for your dumbness,” Sehun says, laughing so hard Baekhyun hopes it's making his stomach hurt. 

“Don't be an asshole, can't you see I'm distressed? Also, how dare you call Jongdae anything when you haven't even met him yet,” Baekhyun says, affronted and stealing Sehun’s chips in revenge. 

“But I know you and honestly, I think it might be the same thing,” Sehun says, remaining unfazed and laughing still. “Please, don't you remember last week when the power cut off and everyone went home early but you stayed just so you'd get to go back home with your beloved driver? He's doing the exact same thing and frankly, I'm starting to get the feeling if you two were left alone on an island you would die without hooking up because none of you would ever do anything about it.”

Baekhyun frowns, missing the last half of what Sehun says because although the possibility of Jongdae doing this on purpose just to see him had crossed his mind, it had sounded ridiculous when he’d thought about it. Coming from Sehun though, it sounds a lot worthier of consideration. 

The appearance of their boss is enough to snap Baekhyun out of his Jongdae induced trance, hurrying to finish his lunch so they can go back to work, suddenly reminded of the other causes of stress in his life. There's so much on his plate that for a couple of hours he does manage to keep Jongdae off his mind, until people start saying their goodbyes, and Baekhyun realizes Jongdae hasn't texted him at all so he's probably coming to pick him up. From his house. A whole city away. 

He sees his phone light up and he doesn't even need to look at the screen to know it's Jongdae. He looks dashing, probably because he's been sitting at home all day, Baekhyun reasons as he slides into the passenger seat. He wonders if Soojung has said anything about him showing up at the office, but Jongdae greets him too normally for him to know. 

Jongdae's mixtape comes on automatically, and Baekhyun frowns at the stereo. He feels called out, like Carly Rae Jepsen is telling him to stop ignoring the signs and just say something, and he doesn't like it. 

“How was your day?” Jongdae asks cautiously, clearly attributing Baekhyun’s mood to his job. 

“Fine,” Baekhyun asks curtly. He doesn't want Jongdae to think he's mad at him, even if he is maybe a little irrationally upset that he’s turned out to be just as bad as he is at this, probably, assuming Sehun is right, so he huffs out a breath and turns to look at Jongdae. Dumb, beautiful Jongdae with his cheekbones and his eyelashes, who may have just been doing this because he's so nice he can't help it. The problem is, if that's the case, then Baekhyun must confess anyway because otherwise it will make his love grow so much his heart won't be able to hold it in. “I was just thinking,” he starts saying, because he needs to put it out there somehow and he can’t come up with a better way than this, “uh, maybe we should redo the numbers of how we split expenses for the trip and all, since it’s getting more expensive.”

“Oh?” Jongdae raises an eyebrow, so oblivious Baekhyun almost feels bad for not just coming out with it already. “Are gas prices going up? I didn’t see anything about it.”

“No, I mean, since you come and go twice on Tuesdays, you know… because you don’t go to the office,” Baekhyun says quietly, staring down at his fingers once the words are out. 

There’s silence for a very long moment, and Baekhyun sort of expected Jongdae to say something right away, deny it maybe, or laugh and pretend he had no clue what Baekhyun was talking about. He doesn’t say absolutely anything instead, and Baekhyun’s about to speak up when he realizes he’s pulling up at the gas station.

Jongdae parks the car, takes a breath and then finally faces him, unbuckling his seat belt, which gives it an air of extreme seriousness that makes Baekhyun start to sweat.

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Jongdae says, staring straight into Baekhyun’s eyes which is by far the most unsettling but also hottest thing that’s ever happened to him in his life. “I never did straight up lie about it, but I did lie by omission which in the case I guess it’s the same thing, so I wanna apologize, it’s just that -- I just really like hanging out with you,” he continues, and he’s speaking very slowly but also like he’s practiced this a billion times before so Baekhyun, for once, arms himself with patience and waits. “I’ve liked you since the first day you got into my car, and I didn’t wanna ruin things so I kept waiting for the right moment and making up lame excuses to hang out with you, like… I don’t actually drink coffee, especially coffee from this place which honestly? It’s dreadful and I don’t know how you stomach it, but every time we were driving back it’s like there was a big clock ticking down to the moment I had to drop you off and I just, I guess I wanted to take the long way and make it longer? Kinda sad, I know.”

Baekhyun waits for another moment, but it seems like Jongdae is done speaking, which is slightly disappointing because he’s still unsure about the main topic here. 

“So, uh,” Baekhyun starts, clearing his throat as he shifts in his seat so he’s fully facing him. “When you say you like me, do you mean you think I’m really funny and want to hang out with me more because I’m such a good friend, or-”

Luckily, Jongdae’s speech apparently wasn’t over and it had a kiss as its big finale -- or maybe he got fed up with Baekhyun, either way, Baekhyun is grateful for it when he gets cut off by a pair of lips pressing against his own.

“You’re such an idiot,” Jongdae says, but he’s smiling against his lips so Baekhyun thinks he’ll forgive him for insulting him right after kissing him.

“I made you a mixtape and you didn’t even notice, who’s the idiot now?” he asks, raising an eyebrow just because he can’t let all his efforts go to waste, considering he did spend approximately an hour picking songs. 

Jongdae laughs at this, surprised, and he pulls back which is the last thing Baekhyun wanted.

“That was on purpose? I felt like Jason Mraz had some sort of personal vendetta against me and wouldn’t stop trying to give me away when I still wasn’t ready,” he says, putting his hand over his eyes as he tries to catch his breath, still chuckling softly. “I did notice your mixtape, I’m sorry I thought it was some cruel trick of destiny though.”

“Destiny doesn’t have my great taste in music,” Baekhyun grins, leaning forward, eager to get kissed again now that he can. “Wait, so we agree then that you like me in a crush sort of way, right? Not a friend thing?”

Rolling his eyes, Jongdae hooks his finger under his chin to bring him closer, pressing the shortest of kiss on his lips. “I like you in a very unfriendly way, yeah, and I hope you do too even if I’ve been forced to say it a thousand times while you haven’t even come close to saying it.”

“That was such a long thing to say with your lips so close to mine, I don’t know if I like you anymore, you’re too cruel,” Baekhyun pouts, and Jongdae kisses him again because apparently jutting out his bottom lip causes that effect. Baekhyun takes a mental note, just in case it ever comes in handy. “Okay, yeah, I do like you,” Baekhyun smiles when Jongdae pulls away, putting a hand on the back of his head to keep him near. “I like you a lot, and I can’t wait to take you to the my job and show everyone what a fancy boyfriend I have.”

“Woah, boyfriend,” Jongdae laughs, and Baekhyun suffers for one whole second thinking he may have gotten ahead of himself, but then Jongdae is kissing him again and he forgets. “I’ll try to wear my best shirt when you take me there, though I’ve seen the clothes some of your coworkers wear and I’m pretty sure they’d think I’m fancy in my most casual work outfit.”

“Hey no, don’t badmouth my coworkers, they do their best,” Baekhyun says, though he’s pretty sure he knows what he means and seeing that one guy from the optics department in fluffy sandals and socks makes him feel fancy in his sneakers too. “We can’t all be Soojung, okay,” he says, and then instantly covers his mouth, Jongdae raising both his eyebrows at him. “I kind of, uh, went over to your job today to ask you out for lunch?”

“Ah, that’s how you found out,” Jongdae says. “I knew Soojung would tell on me one day, she would’ve gone find you at the lab herself if we’d postponed it any longer.”

“I was gonna confess to you today, but you just had to steal my thunder, didn’t you?” Baekhyun pouts, mostly to make sure it really does get him kisses, and Jongdae predictably pulls him in, this time grabbing him gently by the shirt and devoting a solid minute to sucking on his bottom lip, brushing his own lips against it over and over until Baekhyun is a shivering mess. So maybe pouting gets him lots of things. He’ll have to do some more research. “You know, now that we’re not pretending anymore, maybe we can skip the bad coffee -- for the sake of that cute cashier girl, mostly.”

“Oh yeah, I don’t want her to feel bad,” Jongdae nods, trying to look serious. “I have some tea at my place.”

“Sounds good to me,” Baekhyun grins, finally pulling away and resting his head against the seat as Jongdae starts up the car once again, glancing one last time at him as he gets them back on the highway. As the Jason Mraz song comes on, Baekhyun turns up the volume just a little, and glances back at Jongdae. It may have been a bit of a long drive, but the destination was definitely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> find me @ lubaekchens on twitter <3


End file.
